FTTU’s Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 6:00 pm at the Bear Rocks Community Club, 161 Big Springs Road, Acme, PA. Note that the location has been changed from the Nimick Center in Ligonier as listed in the Trails newsletter. We realized we would need a larger room to allow for more distancing. Attendees are asked to wear a face covering.

At this meeting we will elect a new slate of officers and directors, review a budget for the next year, and discuss possible projects for 2021.

Click HERE for directions.

Due to limits on groups at our usual meeting place, the Nimick Center in Ligonier, we have decided to move the October meeting to the Bear Rocks Community Club located at 161 Big Springs Road, Acme, PA 15610. Take Route 31 east from Mount Pleasant and turn right on to Bear Rocks Road, make another right to stay on Bear Rocks Road, another right on to Big Springs Road. The club is a short distance on the right. The club is only about a mile off of Route 31. Click HERE for the map.

The date is Wednesday, October 7, 2020 and the starting time is 6:00 pm. This is the chapter’s annual meeting and members are encouraged to attend. According to state guidance, attendees should wear a mask.  At this meeting, will elect officers and directors for the next term.

Also, the outdoors flea market originally scheduled for this meeting has been postponed for another date.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

During the September meeting at Mammoth Park, FTTU presented the chapter’s Russ Mowry Memorial Silver Trout Award to Denny Hess. Denny has been active with the chapter since 2009 and has served as Vice President since 2016. He has worked closely with Ralph Koscianski and Linn Run Park staff on the Rock Run project and has put in volunteer hours on the Mill Creek stream improvement project as well. Denny makes the trip out from Irwin to conduct water testing on Rock Run each month. He has also served as a mentor at our disabled veterans outings.
Congratulations and thanks, Denny!

FTTU’s meeting at the Lincoln Highway SupperMarket on June 3 has been canceled along with any chapter activity through the summer.
There will be no summer picnic fundraiser this year.

Our next scheduled event will be our monthly meeting on September 2nd. Check back for more details in August for a time and location.

The 2020 Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp scheduled for June 21-26, 2020, has been canceled. The camp was to be held at Messiah College near Yellow Breeches Creek. Messiah has canceled all events at the college through the end of June. We had three students from FTTU’s region accepted into the 2020 camp. All those accepted to the 2020 camp are automatically accepted to the 2021 camp scheduled for June 20-25 provided they inform the camp of their intentions to attend.

FTTU has also canceled our annual stream-side clean up of Loyalhanna Creek in the Delayed Harvest section in Ligonier that was scheduled for May 6, 2020. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, in collaboration with DEP and Penn DoT has postponed the statewide cleanup until fall. We will reschedule our litter cleanup of Loyalhanna Creek for sometime in September. As the pandemic situation improves, and the stay-at-home restrictions are relaxed, we will evaluate options for activities during the summer and early fall. Needless to say, the May meeting is also canceled.

Again, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, FTTU’s April meeting scheduled for Wednesday, the 1st, has been canceled. Check back here for more updates and schedule changes.

Also, the Thursday afternoon fly tying group meetings at the Tin Lizzy have been canceled until further notice.

Due to the school shut downs, the March 25th and April 1st Youth Outdoor Club sessions have been canceled. The on-stream casting and fishing session is still on, but has been rescheduled for April 9th on Loyalhanna Creek’s DHALO section.

Spring is almost here! Come celebrate with us at our March meeting where we will feature our popular “Slide Show n Tell”. Bring photos or video of your outdoors adventures and we’ll put them up on the big screen. Anyone can participate and topics from any locale from Loyalhanna Creek to Patagonia are welcome.
You can also learn about ongoing and future FTTU projects. Meeting begins at 6:00 pm, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at the Nimick Education Center in Ligonier.

FTTU’s November meeting will be held Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Nimick Family Education Center in Ligonier.

The topic of our evening presentation will be a roundtable discussion on steelhead fishing in the Erie tributaries led by our own Milt Claney. Milt has a short video of the “Do’s and Don’ts” of steelhead fishing! If you have a favorite steelhead fly pattern, equipment or fishing technique you would like to share with the group, please come prepared. There will be a variety of “war stories” shared, and hopefully we’ll all gain a few tips to make us more successful on the stream!

We will also have updates and discussions regarding programs and activities planned for 2020 during our business meeting. Between in-school fly tying programs, school field days, a veterans’ fishing event and community outdoor programs, there are unlimited ways for you to get involved. We have already received a variety of requests for 2020 activities. You don’t need to be an expert fly-tier or fisher to get involved. There is something for everyone regardless of skill level. This is Forbes Trail’s opportunity to get involved with, and give back to, the communities where we live. You can make a difference in recruiting and training our next generation of coldwater conservationists! In the process, you can enjoy the camaraderie with your fellow Chapter members.

Hard to believe but April is almost over. Our May meeting will be held Wednesday, May 1st at 6:00 pm, this month, upstairs at Geo’s in Latrobe.
At this month’s meeting, we will be discussing the 2019 picnic and finalizing plans for the May 11 Disabled Vets event.

We need volunteers to secure raffle prizes and plan activities. We want to make this year’s picnic a family oriented event with activities and prizes for kids. We will be asking all members to purchase/sell raffle and picnic tickets. Expect a mailing from FTTU later in May.

Tickets will also be available at our June meeting at the Lincoln Highway SupperMarket on June 5.

We are also asking members to help sell buttons to raise funds for our future Veterans Service Programs. We ask for a $5.00 donation for each. You can pick up a bag of buttons at our get together at Geo’s.

There will be an informal stream-side clean-up on the Loyalhanna Creek Delayed Harvest section in Ligonier. The amount of stream we can cover will depend on how many volunteers participate.
If you’d like to help out, we are meeting at the Nature Trail parking lot (across from Giant Eagle) at 4:30 pm.